Daughter backs dismissed teacher's fight

Saturday

May 25, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 25, 2013 at 3:35 PM

The daughter of a gay teacher who was fired from a Catholic school in Clintonville says she's proud that her mother is challenging her dismissal and hopes the publicity surrounding the fight will bring about change.

JoAnne Viviano, The Columbus Dispatch

The daughter of a gay teacher who was fired from a Catholic school in Clintonville says she’s proud that her mother is challenging her dismissal and hopes the publicity surrounding the fight will bring about change.

Courtney Hale, 23, is the daughter of former Bishop Watterson High School physical-education teacher Carla Hale, who lost her job in March after she mentioned her same-sex relationship in her mother’s obituary.

The younger Hale said she and her two older brothers, along with the rest of their blended family, are standing behind their mom. Carla Hale also has enjoyed support from Watterson students, alumni and others, with more than 130,000 people signing an online petition seeking her reinstatement.

“I think it’s important for the public to see all of the support that she’s getting,” Courtney Hale said yesterday. “And, hopefully, a change will come about with this, even if it’s not somebody changing their mind, just becoming more accepting and understanding.”

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus, which oversees Watterson, has said Hale violated her teaching contract, which required her to abide by church tenets, as well as a teacher-union agreement, which allows dismissal for immoral or unethical behavior. The church considers homosexual acts and any sex outside marriage to be immoral. An online petition in support of the diocese’s standards has around 700 signatures.

Hale, 57, of Powell, taught at Watterson for about 19 years.

The local Catholic teachers union has declined to represent her in arbitration, and Hale plans to continue that process on her own. Hale also has filed a complaint with the city of Columbus under an ordinance that makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

Her partner, Julie Uncapher, said she, too, hopes Hale’s fight brings about change — in Catholic-school contracts, for students and for other teachers in a similar situation. She said the Catholic school should “be able to open up, to accept and love thy neighbor like they state.”

Courtney Hale said she was told about her mother’s same-sex relationship about the time it started around 13 years ago. She thinks of herself as having four parents — her mother and her father, who is Hale’s ex-husband, as well as Uncapher and her father’s current wife. She said they share holidays together, make her and her brothers a priority and “have always shown respect and love for each other.”

“I think people just need to understand that not everyone’s the same,” she said.